Due to international duty, quite a few key players were unavailable for this week’s training session, namely Pablo, Pernia, Maxi, Seitaridis, Simao, Raul Garcia, and Jurado.
Who did participate? Leo Franco; Falcón; Antonio López; Luccin; Braulio; Mista; Zé Castro; Maniche; Vara; Eller; Kun; Reyes; Perea; Luis García; Forlán; Cléber Santana.
Early Thoughts on the Derby
The main focus is to have everyone uninjured, in tip-top shape for Saturday. I must say that I’m feeling very confident about derby at the Bern*beu. The Madrid-based media is completely out-of-control over Re*l M*drid‘s lacklustre pre-season form…pre-season crisis talks, essentially! Pressure is mounting for Schuster and he will want to start off the official 07/08 campaign with a win– Atleti cannot let their guard down and we must exploit their weak areas, namely their defence.
RUMOUR MILL has been a bit busy lately. Here are a few of the latest:
–Costinha set for Serie A club Atalanta. MARCA (followed by GOAL.COM) jumped the gun and reported this, but it has not been made official since the media has reported it. I’m not surprised by the rumour– in fact, I do expect Costinha to leave before Saturday.
-AS reports the possibility of Peter Luccin departing for Benfica. This would no doubt mean Maniche and Raul Garcia would occupy centre-midfield, no? The AS article also seems to suggest that the departure of Luccin could make way for Riquelme— I highly doubt it.
-Spanish media also reports Benfica are interested in midfielder Miguel de las Cuevas. This, I hope, is not true. The poor Spanish midfielder is still recovering from an awful injury he sustained nearly year ago. If he stays, I can very well see him making sub-appearances for Atleti once he’s deemed fit. I’d be disappointed to see him let go.
–Diego Costa— the young Brasilian striker who scored a goal against Getafe is rumoured to be on his way, whether it be on loan or permanently. He’s viewed as excess, in terms of extracommunitarians.
–Mista. Dear old, well passed it, Mista. I’d love to see him go as it would allow Atleti youth striker Braulio an opportunity to be 3rd choice striker.
–Ze Castro, another player linked to a move back to Portugal.
Let’s see how things pan out these next few days.